Iconic home of South Africa’s first black president Mandela opens as luxury hotel

The African Union has expressed its concern for the health of President Mohamed Bazoum and called for his "immediate" release. The bloc also said it backed the West African ECOWAS group.

The Black Sea was once a geopolitical afterthought in Europe. But that has changed since Russia began its war against Ukraine. Now, many interests are colliding on the inland sea between Europe and Asia.

Niger's Junta said on Sunday they had gathered enough evidence to prosecute ousted President Mohamed Bazoum for high treason following his imprisonment last month and Niger's military subsequent dissolving of the elected government.

According to its defense ministry, a Russian warship fired warning shots at a vessel headed to Ukraine in the Black Sea. It is the first such incident since Moscow exited the UN-brokered grain deal.

Jennifer Hermoso said she “did not enjoy” the kiss that was planted on her by president of the Spanish FA, Luis Rubiales. The incident, which many deemed inappropriate, occurred after Spain beat England 1-0 to win their first ever World Cup.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa said he was confident he would win the election on Wednesday after casting his vote in Kwekwe.

Leaders of the BRICS group of emerging economies meet in Johannesburg as divisions between the founding members about the bloc's future appear to emerge. Thirty-eight Senegalese nationals are repatriated after a migrant boat drifts off Cape Verde. And Zimbabwe gears up for presidential elections amid economic hardship.

At least 63 people were killed and 43 injured in a fire in the central business district of South Africa's biggest city of Johannesburg on Thursday, the municipal government said.

Military officers in oil-producing Gabon said they had seized power on Wednesday, placing President Ali Bongo under house arrest and naming a new leader after the Central African state's election body announced Bongo had won a third term.

The vote for the largely ceremonial role is widely viewed as a test of support for the ruling People's Action Party.

The regional bloc CCAS, and the country's opposition coalition, have urged international partners to push for a rapid return to civilian rule. Also in this edition: In Democratic Republic of Congo, at least 48 protesters are reported to have been killed in the eastern city of Goma. And finally: In South Africa, the death toll rises to 76 after the devastating Johannesburg fire at an abandoned apartment block that housed dozens of homeless people and squatters.

Pro-EU President Salome Zurabishvili is facing possible impeachment after she visited leaders in the bloc. The current government is seen by the opposition as taking the country away from Europe and toward Russia.